


Wait For Me To Come Home

by widowshulk



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Civil War (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-14 08:58:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4558572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/widowshulk/pseuds/widowshulk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha has started to look for Bruce after he disappeared, but she gets a letter that changes everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wait For Me To Come Home

The algorithm was taking a lot longer to run than Natasha had anticipated and she was starting to get more than a little frustrated with it. So when she heard a knock on the door, her anger bubbled over and she slammed the laptop shut before storming over to the door. She threw the door open and it banged against the wall, making Steve jump back from the door, with a worried look on his face.

“What?” she asked, not intending on sounding as aggressive as she did.

“Everything all right?” he asked, looking around the room behind her to make sure he wasn’t intruding.

“Yeah, fine. Just didn’t sleep well,” Natasha asked with a softer voice. “What’s up?”

“You got mail. I didn’t know people still wrote letters,” Steve said, handing her an envelope.

“Thanks. Sorry about the slamming,” she said with a smile.

“Not a problem. Let me know if you need anything.”

She nodded and headed back into the room, gently pushing the door closed. Clutching the envelope in her hand, she sat on the edge of her bed and her eyes burned with unwanted tears. She blinked hard before turning her attention to the ceiling and blinking fast to keep the tears away. When she was sure she would be okay, she looked down at the envelope. She’d recognise that handwriting anywhere, the messy scrawl of a scientist whose hand was never fast enough to keep up with his whirlwind of a brain. 

There was no return address, but the postage mark said Kolkata and she wondered if he’d gone there specifically to post the letter. She took a minute to trace the writing on the envelope, knowing that those gentle hands of his had been here recently and remembering the way his hands had felt on her face when she’d thought he was going to kiss her. As she finished tracing the address, she realised how silly she was being and turned it over to open it. Inside, there was a single sheet of paper and the messy penmanship covered both sides. 

She eased it open and onto her lap, smiling at the fact that these were brand new words from him, something she hadn’t ever been sure she’d get again. She took a deep breath and started to read.

_Natasha,_

_I hope this letter finds you, and our friends, well. I gather you’ve been busy with the new team since I left, but hopefully not too busy to still be enjoying yourself. I know you let work overshadow fun, but you shouldn’t. I’ve been good, if you’ve been wondering, which I hope you have been. I’m working with the big guy on some anger management stuff and we’re making good progress. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I don’t think it’ll be much longer now._

_Now the reason for writing after so long: I know you’re looking for me._

Natasha’s heart skipped a beat; how could he possibly know that someone was looking for him? How did he know it was her that was looking? She hadn’t told anybody that she was, so it wasn’t as if there could have been a leak. She made a mental note to check everything later and see where she’d gone wrong. 

_I know what you’re doing to find my location. I’m asking you to please stop. I do not want to be found, not yet. I don’t know if this is coming from you or Fury or someone else, but if it is an order, please defy it._

He obviously didn’t know everything if he thought it was an order, so that was something. She flipped the page over and carried on reading.

_I’m not ready to return the world of superheroes just yet, so please give me a little time and wait for me to come home. I will come home, but if I come back before I’m ready, people will get hurt and I know that’s something we’d both like to avoid._

_I’ve got a hundred stories to tell you and I will tell you them all someday soon. Until then, stay safe and keep fighting the good fight._

_I also adore you,_

_Bruce_

She smiled a dorky grin that Bruce would have loved and reread the letter a couple more times. Once she was sure she had it memorised, she folded it and slid it back into the envelope. She walked to her desk, and put the letter down. Picking up the laptop, she went into the bathroom and filled the sink with water. When it was filled, she dropped the laptop into it and left it there, knowing that everything would be fried and it would take months to collect that sort of intel again and she had more important things to worry about. She already knew none of it would have saved online, because she knew how to cover her tracks. She made a note to herself to dismantle and burn the laptop later. 

Feeling like a weight had been lifted, Natasha went back to the letter and as she gently traced over the letters on the envelope once more, she walked to one of her conveniently located but very well concealed safes and placed it on top of the stack of paper inside.

As she closed the safe door and secured it again, she smiled to herself once more, knowing that someday soon Bruce Banner was going to come home and they were finally going to have a real chance at something. Something more and something real. She knew she was behaving like a giddy teenager, but she just couldn’t help herself, and besides it felt good to have hope again.


End file.
